For those of you wondering, I will be posting more chapters as I write them. I appreciate all your reviews and would love to hear your comments. All Blue Bloods characters and storyline belong to the wonderful Melissa De La Cruz. Let's hope the series never ends.
~Sarah
Schuyler walked into the Perry Street apartment after about 2 years of keeping away. It was empty and silent without an occupant. She smiled, thinking about how much things had changed in the time away, of her and Jack's bonding, and of Jack coming to New York to finally free them of Mimi. Her smile dropped as she thought about Jack's absence in her life for many weeks. Surely he would be done with Mimi by now? Surely they hadn't captured him... A tear rolled down her cheek. What if, despite their vows, he had returned to his long beloved Mimi?
She shook the thought from her head. He couldn't; the bond wouldn't allow it. Their love had been tested and tried, and had survived intact. But old worries always died hard for Schuyler.
She crossed the room, brushing the curtains aside as she looked out at the street below. The streets were slow this late at night. She saw a lone black limousine pull into the parking lot, with laughing girls piling out in their Prom-night finery. For a second, she wished she were one of them; one of the seemingly simple humans with so little to worry about. One of the humans who didn't have to watch their backs every second. Instead, she was back in New York, to the only safe house she could think of. The apartment seemed the only place where the venators could not find her. It was the only place she could think of to heal, and then maybe she could continue her work in Alexandria. If only Jack were here...
Why do you doubt me, my love?
Schuyler turned sharply from the curtains, searching the dark for the eyes she could feel on her. Her heart beat furiously in her chest. It was another trick, another invasion into her mind. It had to be.
Why must you continue to risk yourself?
"Have you any idea how important you are to me?" He stepped out from behind the wall of the small kitchenette, his vibrant green eyes piercing her deep into her heart.
"Jack!" she choked out, taking in his perfect blond hair, his lean, strong body. She felt her own weak body waver against the wall. She was going to faint.
Jack Force was at her side before she could even slip an inch, pulling her against him and cradling her in his arms. He was so warm, so strong compared to her. She wasn't worthy. She was a half-blood. Just a girl clinging to the world that he had been part of for millennia. She couldn't even stay on her feet long enough to greet her love, her bondmate…pathetic.
Stop.
The command rang though her head, with all the force of the eternal Abbadon behind it. She gasped, but welcomed the invasion, letting herself slip into blackness as Jack laid her gently on the couch, whispering to her as she dreamt.
When she awoke the room was warm, and a smoky scent filled the air. She twisted beneath the blankets that lay atop her small frame to look at the fire lit beside her. It reminded her of the long nights lying beside it in Jack's arms. But Jack hadn't been hers then. Now they were one. She would never fall apart so long as he was beside her.
A warm hand lay against her cheek. She turned to gaze into Jack's smiling eyes, and reached to hold the hand he held on her cheek.
You are not well.
He spoke kindly through the glom, but his face hardened as her took in her pale face, her weak grasp.
"Its nothing." she spoke quietly, as if speaking was too much for her.
"Tell me who has done this to you." he knelt on his knees by her head, hands
skimming along her neck.
"Jack," Schuyler stopped his hands with her own."There's nothing you can do. We just have to wait until it runs out."
"Until what-" he stopped short, as Schuyler twisted her neck towards him. There, nestled just out of sight at the base of her neck, were two jagged puncture wounds. Jack's face darkened as he read the story from her mind. "I should never have left you. If he -if it- weren't dead, I swear I'd-" he stopped again when he saw Schuyler wince. She grabbed his fist and unclenched it with hers.
"Please Jack. Don't blame yourself." She couldn't bear to let him feel her pain. She remembered that night all too vividly...
She walked through the streets of Paris as though she had spent her life there, when really, it had only been a few nights. She was renting a small apartment on the outskirts of the city, out of site of any prying eyes.
On the flight to Alexandria, Schuyler had come across a peculiar message in one of Lawrnce's Journals. All it was was an address, really.
Comédie Française
Anyone who was fluent in French or even just familiar with Paris knew of the theatre. Schuyler had actually attended a performance there, once, as a child with Cordelia. It was a beautiful structure, and was massive. The address was written on the page referring to the Gate of Alexandria. Schuyler had immediately headed to Paris, only to find that the only enmortal Blue Blood performer Jacqueline Fraia had disappeared. Once again, she had hit a dead end. Of course, she had other things to worry about.
They had been on her trail since the beginning. Rouge bounty hunters traced her steps, waiting to reap the enormous award Mimi Force had promised for her capture. But Jack had seen to it that she would be protected, and for a while after he left her for New York, she was safe. She began the search for the Gates again, almost forgetting the constant danger she was in.
It shouldn't be this easy. Schuyler thought as she walked down the cool streets that evening. Something hung in the air... If only she could put her finger on it...
A bag swung from her arm as her heels clacked on the pavement. Schuyler hadn't been able to resist the beautiful black 80's-style boots she'd seen in the window of a local boutique. After buying them from a more than friendly vendor, she couldn't resist putting them on immediately. Her old shoes were tucked safely in the bag at her side.
Schuyler breathed in the fresh air around her, happy to be in Paris. She hadn't been experiencing any tremors or illness, largely due to what Dr. Pat had said was nearness to her own kind. It was risky, but Schuyler couldn't resist the chance to be in the City of Lights. Even if it meant more risk of running into members of the European coven.
As she stepped into the dingy apartment building, she checked her mail cubby on the wall. There was nothing but a lone cobweb to greet her. She sighed. If only Oliver were here…maybe then Jack's absence wouldn't sting so badly. But no, that was selfish. Oliver deserved better. She rounded the corner onto the fraying-carpeted steps that led up to her small one-room home. Despite everything, it was nice to have a place of her own.
"Going up, Miss?" a man called behind her as she began the long trek up the stairs to her crowded room.
She turned, half expecting the smiling face of another tenant, his eyes gave the boy away. They moved with an inhuman quickness, something only another vampire would be able to detect. Schuyler didn't like to judge, but other vampires were rare here, and this one didn't look like the typical Parisian...
"Why?" Schuyler asked, brushing her long hair into a quick ponytail and out of her face. She tensed her legs, preparing for a chase if it came. She was fast, and if she could make it past him down the stairs before he tried anything...
"No reason." She looked quickly into his eyes over her shoulder. The boy had the steely face of a fighter, but with his chestnut hair and dark brown eyes, Schuyler didn't feel threatened by him in the slightest. As soon as his eyes met hers, the feeling intensified. She turned, wondering why she was even weary of this harmless boy in the first place.
"Just worried about someone like you being all alone." he said quietly, letting his words float into her mind, " You never know who could be waiting for you." he took a step off the stairs and she followed, mesmerized by the way his eyes swirled into hers.
Someone like you...Schuyler tried to grasp the words in her head, but they kept slipping through her fingers like sand on the beach. Nothing but his eyes held meaning.
He led her to a little hall under the stairs. It was filled with cleaning supplies that looked untouched. And judging by the dust compiled everywhere they probably hadn't been used for years; if ever.
Schuyler waded through her mind, reaching for something that pulled at her memory, but all she could think of were his eyes...his brown eyes. They never broke contact with hers, even as he reached to hit a light switch...
Lights...Schuyler thought. But she didn't need lights, she should be able to see him with the illuminata...
Suddenly Schuyler's thoughts broke free. She whirled on him, the silver blood who had dared to bind her mind. She already knew the incantation that would trap him, make him unable to move so she could escape. She opened her mouth, focusing on the electric candelabra fastened on the wall just above his head.
Schuyler wasn't going to fall under his spell again.
Just as she opened her mouth, he lunged for her, landing a blow on her arm that would have broken it had she been human. But Schuyler was strong.
She parried his attack with a kick to his shins, and she turned to run as he doubled over.
She fled down the hall and out a back door, moving like a blur through the little garden. She stopped as she turned onto a normally crowded street, ducking into a doorway to catch her breath. She searched the glom for any feel of her pursuer but found none. It was as though he hadn't even tried...
"Ahh, there you are." a shadow appeared in front of her, blocking her only escape, "the only half-blood known to the world of vampires"
It was an older man, dressed in a faded black uniform that matched his jet black hair. "Don't bother trying a spell. Your parlor tricks won't help you escape me."
She looked at him, trying to calculate any number of escapes. All were worthless. She could see the ring of silver around his eyes, and she tried to move as far away as possible in the infinitely small space. A wall pushed down on her mind, sapping her of any energy or ability to escape. The Silver Blood held her mind in his, and Schuyler fought to keep him out. If only she had taken a familiar, then she might be strong enough.
If only Jack were here. The twin angel of the apocalypse would destroy the demon in an instant. She couldn't help feeling a tinge of abandonment. But now was not the time for self-pity.
"If you harm me, I will make sure you regret it." Schuyler hissed as fiercely as she could manage.
The creature laughed, letting his features blur and change before her, as much as to scare her as for show. Schuyler could feel bile begin to rise in her throat.
"Such strength...I've had every type of blood known to this earth, but never have I tasted the blood of a Halfling like you..." he leaned toward Schuyler, who's eyes were widened in horror. He wanted more than just her blood; he wanted her soul. Another immortal soul lost to the depths of hell in his being.
She screamed, letting it echo through the night. His teeth flashed as he leaned toward her, elongated canines resting at her throat. She struggled, but she was no match for his inhuman strength. He pinned her to the wall. She felt a fire surge through her as his fangs pierced her vein. This was nothing like being familiar to Jack...this was wrong. Every ounce of her protested to the intrusion, until she thought the pain would make her pass out. She flailed, hearing the souls that were trapped inside the demon, and was sucked into oblivion.
A familiar can only be one vampire's - and she was Jack's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She had woken up lying on the cold stone stoop, feeling too weak to move. There, a few feet away lay the man. His eyes stared into the empty air, never to see again.
"You could've died." Jack stared at Schuyler once she had filled him in on the rest. "I swear to you Schuyler, I will destroy them." Jack's face showed no sign of the gentle, cautious boy she knew. All that was there was the vengeful mask of Abbadon.
"He's dead Jack, and I'm alive." Schuyler closed her eyes and leaned against his warm chest on the couch.
"Have you fed since?" he looked at her carefully, Abbadon vanishing in an instant, obviously guessing her answer from her face; or her mind. "You must take a familiar. This is not a game Schuyler. Your vampire being will keep you alive, but just barely. I will not have you fall into eternal slumber."
I will not lose you.